Timothy
Men of Steel
He's a Crafty-Sort of Fellow
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Post by Timothy on Jul 10, 2008 7:00:12 GMT -5
For those unfamiliar with the term, "retcon" is short for "retroactive continuity" where the origin of a character is altered so as to affect the present incarnation of said-character. If I could retcon any character, I would start with the Injustice League's Prometheus. Created by the writers as a counterpart to Batman, Prometheus' greatest weakness, IMO, was his uninspired origin. Whereas Bruce Wayne's parents were law-abiding citizens killed by a criminal, Prometheus' parents were criminals killed by police officers. So, my task was as such: how do you retain the essence of the character, a technological wizard of sorts corrupted by evil, but do something different? My thinking was that his character should center around his name: "Prometheus," the god who gave technology to man and was subsequently exiled to earth. Instead of having his parents die almost exactly the same as Bruce Wayne's, my thought was that they should have been amoral capitalists. Following their naturally caused deaths, the man who would be Prometheus gathers what remains of his family's fortunes in order to build a cutting-edge weapons design and manufacturing company. His idea would be to take the wrath of "the Gods" and bring "fire to the people," in the form of specialized weapons for the highest bidder. The stipulation would be that his company would only build for the highest bidder of a country already in turmoil; whereas Bruce Wayne would work towards peace, Prometheus would thrive off of the pains of others (thanks to his inherited amorality). Essentially, I would write him with the mind of a fascist; the strongest in a warring country would have the most resources, namely capital ($), and as such, they deserve the "weapons of the Gods" to weed out weaker rivals. In terms of his costumed persona, I would essentially keep him the same way that Morrison and Co., depicted him during his run on JLA.
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Jack Napier
Gotham Knights
The Scarecrow
Poster formally known as Dr. Crane
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Post by Jack Napier on Jul 11, 2008 11:11:43 GMT -5
Whereas Bruce Wayne's parents were law-abiding citizens killed by a criminal, Prometheus' parents were criminals killed by police officers. Sheesh, who "came up" with that? That's not even original- The Wrath had the exact origin in the 1980s. To twist it further, it was Jim Gordon who killed his parents. I like your origin take, Tim. With a name like Prometheus, I wonder why they gave him such a rip-off origin
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Timothy
Men of Steel
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Posts: 8,716
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Post by Timothy on Jul 11, 2008 19:38:16 GMT -5
Whereas Bruce Wayne's parents were law-abiding citizens killed by a criminal, Prometheus' parents were criminals killed by police officers. Sheesh, who "came up" with that? That's not even original- The Wrath had the exact origin in the 1980s. To twist it further, it was Jim Gordon who killed his parents. I like your origin take, Tim. With a name like Prometheus, I wonder why they gave him such a rip-off origin ;D Thanks man! Would you believe that Grant Morrison came up with the lame origin?
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Jack Napier
Gotham Knights
The Scarecrow
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Post by Jack Napier on Jul 12, 2008 2:10:13 GMT -5
Then be proud that you came up with something more creative than Grant Morrison. I'm surprised that Morrison- being a lover for all Batman lore and a sucker for retaining continuity- didn't just bring The Wrath back in a revised form. As for retconning Batman villains, I always preferred the B:TAS origin of Clayface to the pool of protoplasm one in the comics. If they could do what they did with Mr. Freeze and incorporate it into the comics (perhaps replacing Roland Daggett with cosmetics company owner Roman Sionis??), I'd be happy.
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Timothy
Men of Steel
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Post by Timothy on Jul 13, 2008 21:00:36 GMT -5
Then be proud that you came up with something more creative than Grant Morrison. ;D Yeah, you'd think that, especially looking at his other pre-Crisis revivals these past few years. That is a nifty idea worthy of karma If I can add an addendum onto that interesting idea, I would have Roman Sionis "create" Clayface prior to becoming Black Mask... To my way of thinking, the unwitting loss of millions in the attempt to create a new line of cosmetics could force Sionis to "cut his loses" by burning his holdings to the ground while simultaneously creating his new identity of Black Mask.
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Jack Napier
Gotham Knights
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Post by Jack Napier on Jul 14, 2008 2:03:53 GMT -5
Yeah, I also thought that it would be Sionis before he became Black Mask, but I do like your addendum that the aftermath leads Sionis into becoming Black Mask. My only problem with the BTAS Clayface origin is how similar it is to the BTAS Mr. Freeze one that's already been incorporated: corrupt businessman screws over a man who then uses his new abilities for revenge against said businessman. But I guess it shows that the only honest corporation in Gotham could be Wayne Enterprises.
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Timothy
Men of Steel
He's a Crafty-Sort of Fellow
Posts: 8,716
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Post by Timothy on Jul 14, 2008 16:51:11 GMT -5
Yeah, I also thought that it would be Sionis before he became Black Mask, but I do like your addendum that the aftermath leads Sionis into becoming Black Mask. Thanks man! Can you imagine Bruce Timm and Co., putting Black Mask in Batman: The Animated Series? ;D My only problem with the BTAS Clayface origin is how similar it is to the BTAS Mr. Freeze one that's already been incorporated: corrupt businessman screws over a man who then uses his new abilities for revenge against said businessman. Yeah, I can totally see what you mean. Personally, I liked the Clayface origin better (it's the one episode that vividly comes to mind from my childhood), but the Mr. Freeze one is the one that ultimately won the Emmy Award. But I guess it shows that the only honest corporation in Gotham could be Wayne Enterprises. Then again, that, too could make for an interesting story. What about corruption from within Wayne Enterprises? As much as Bruce tries to be everywhere and save everyone, what if someone within his parent's company caused untold misery through avarice?
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Jack Napier
Gotham Knights
The Scarecrow
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Post by Jack Napier on Jul 15, 2008 20:36:56 GMT -5
^ That would be interesting. And said villain, possibly, could found a connection between WayneTech products and the arsenal of a certain winged avenger...
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Timothy
Men of Steel
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Posts: 8,716
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Post by Timothy on Jul 15, 2008 21:38:58 GMT -5
^ That would be interesting. And said villain, possibly, could found a connection between WayneTech products and the arsenal of a certain winged avenger... Exactly; sort of like a rogue Lucius Fox... I can't even begin to imagine how dangerous that would be for Bruce Wayne.
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Jack Napier
Gotham Knights
The Scarecrow
Poster formally known as Dr. Crane
Posts: 1,069
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Post by Jack Napier on Jul 16, 2008 17:53:05 GMT -5
I'm sold. Hmm, now what villain needs to have this as an origin...
Another thing I realized, after making the Clayface-Mr. Freeze origin comparisons, is that the Scarecrow origin and Penguin origin are pretty similar, too- two odd-looking boys grow up being laughed at for their appearances and called the very names that they will adopt as criminals. Both begin as criminals by committing crimes against those who picked on them. Perhaps there could be a little more, through retconning, to separate them, though I do love the anti-bully sentiment that they represent...
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